List of Shame – Tsuro

The “List of Shame” series is my attempt to play all of my unplayed games before buying any more new ones.

Last night, we played a few quick games of Tsuro, which is a dead simple game of creating a path and following it, trying to be the last person whose path doesn’t lead them off the board’s edge.

Eric showed up to game night before Shane and Logan, so I brought this out while our pizza was cooking and we were waiting for the rest of the group. Each player starts on an outer pip of the board. On your turn, lay a tile in front of your marker (so that the tile you’re laying makes your marker move forward along the path). Take turns doing this and the last person whose path doesn’t lead them off the board’s edge is the winner. We played two 2-player games and one 4-player game when Shane and Logan arrived.

This game is extremely simple and will not satisfy those looking for a “hardcore” game, but it’s so easy to learn and so quick to play (10-15 minutes max), that it’s an excellent game to keep on hand for novice gamers and as filler or a palette cleanser before and between heavier games. It is especially fun as player tokens come close to one another, because placing a tile that moves you could also move another player, often against their will.

The art is really beautiful in this game and the components are all high quality. The box the game comes in is way bigger than it needs to be, so this game could easily be stuffed into a bag and taken on the road.

We started a game of New Dawn, but didn’t finish, so look for the write-up for that soon (when we actually finish a game). The premise of that one is cool, but the game certainly is not without its flaws.